Early results in the search for extreme coronal line emitters with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

Peter Clark; Joseph Callow; Or Graur; Alexei V. Filippenko; Thomas G. Brink; WeiKang Zheng; Jessica Aguilar; Steven Ahlen; Segev BenZvi; Davide Bianchi; David Brooks; Todd Claybaugh; Andrei Cuceu; Axel de la Macorra; Arjun Dey; Peter Doel; Jaime E. Forero-Romero; Enrique Gaztañaga; Satya Gontcho A Gontcho; Gaston Gutierrez; Victoria Fawcett; Mustapha Ishak; Jorge Jimenez; Dick Joyce; Stephanie Juneau; Theodore Kisner; Anthony Kremin; Martin Landriau; Laurent Le Guillou; Marc Manera; Aaron Meisner; Ramon Miquel; John Moustakas; Seshadri Nadathur; Will J. Percival; Francisco Prada; Ignasi Pérez-Ràfols; Graziano Rossi; Eusebio Sanchez; David Schlegel; Michael Schubnell; Joseph Harry Silber; David Sprayberry; Gregory Tarlé; Benjamin A. Weaver; Rongpu Zhou; Hu Zou

doi:10.1093/mnras/stag887

Early results in the search for extreme coronal line emitters with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

Peter Clark
, Joseph Callow
, Or Graur
, Alexei V. Filippenko
, Thomas G. Brink
, WeiKang Zheng
, Jessica Aguilar
, Steven Ahlen
, Segev BenZvi
, Davide Bianchi
, David Brooks
, Todd Claybaugh
, Andrei Cuceu
, Axel de la Macorra
, Arjun Dey
, Peter Doel
, Jaime E. Forero-Romero
, Enrique Gaztañaga
, Satya Gontcho A Gontcho
, Gaston Gutierrez

Victoria Fawcett, Mustapha Ishak, Jorge Jimenez, Dick Joyce, Stephanie Juneau, Theodore Kisner, Anthony Kremin, Martin Landriau, Laurent Le Guillou, Marc Manera, Aaron Meisner, Ramon Miquel, John Moustakas, Seshadri Nadathur, Will J. Percival, Francisco Prada, Ignasi Pérez-Ràfols, Graziano Rossi, Eusebio Sanchez, David Schlegel, Michael Schubnell, Joseph Harry Silber, David Sprayberry, Gregory Tarlé, Benjamin A. Weaver, Rongpu Zhou, Hu Zou

Institute of Cosmology & Gravitation

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Here we present the results of our search through the Early Data Release (EDR) of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) for extreme coronal line emitters (ECLEs) - a rare classification of galaxies displaying strong, high-ionization iron coronal emission lines within their spectra. With the requirement of a strong X-ray continuum to generate the coronal emission, ECLEs have been linked to both active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and tidal disruption events (TDEs). We focus our search on identifying TDE-linked ECLEs. We identify three such objects within the EDR sample, highlighting DESI's effectiveness for discovering new nuclear transients, and determine a galaxy-normalized TDE-linked ECLE rate of RG=5 +5−3×10−6 galaxy−1 yr−1 at a median redshift of z = 0.2 - broadly consistent with previous works. Additionally, we also identify more than 200 AGNs displaying coronal emission lines, which serve as the primary astrophysical contaminants in searches for TDE-related events. We also include an outline of the custom python code developed for this search.

Original language	English
Article number	stag887
Number of pages	45
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	549
Issue number	4
Early online date	26 Jun 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag887
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2026

Keywords

astro-ph.HE
transients: tidal disruption events
galaxies: active

Access to Document

10.1093/mnras/stag887

Early results in the search for extreme coronal line emittersFinal published version, 9.89 MBLicence: CC BY

The Rate of Extreme Coronal Line Emitters and their Relation to Tidal Disruption Events
Callow, J. D. (Author), Graur, O. (Supervisor), Canning, R. (Supervisor) & Maraston, C. (Supervisor), 2 Jun 2025
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis

File

Cosmology, Gravitation and Astrophysics at Portsmouth
Crittenden, R. (PI), Amara, A. (CoI), Assadullahi, H. (CoI), Bacon, D. (CoI), Graur, O. (CoI), Koyama, K. (CoI), Wands, D. (CoI) & Noller, J. (CoI)
1/04/22 → 31/03/25
Project: Research

2 Invited talk
1 Oral presentation

Invited talk at the University of Hertfordshire
Graur, O. (Speaker)
29 Apr 2026
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Invited talk at the University of Lancashire
Graur, O. (Speaker)
11 Feb 2026
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Presentation at Cosmic Fireworks: A Cambridge Extragalactic Transients Workshop
Graur, O. (Speaker)
28 Jan 2026
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation

Cite this

Clark, P., Callow, J., Graur, O., Filippenko, A. V., Brink, T. G., Zheng, W., Aguilar, J., Ahlen, S., BenZvi, S., Bianchi, D., Brooks, D., Claybaugh, T., Cuceu, A., Macorra, A. D. L., Dey, A., Doel, P., Forero-Romero, J. E., Gaztañaga, E., Gontcho, S. G. A., ... Zou, H. (2026). Early results in the search for extreme coronal line emitters with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 549(4), Article stag887. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag887

@article{7c078a01fe9f4f2aa41f291330deb8be,

title = "Early results in the search for extreme coronal line emitters with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument",

abstract = "Here we present the results of our search through the Early Data Release (EDR) of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) for extreme coronal line emitters (ECLEs) - a rare classification of galaxies displaying strong, high-ionization iron coronal emission lines within their spectra. With the requirement of a strong X-ray continuum to generate the coronal emission, ECLEs have been linked to both active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and tidal disruption events (TDEs). We focus our search on identifying TDE-linked ECLEs. We identify three such objects within the EDR sample, highlighting DESI's effectiveness for discovering new nuclear transients, and determine a galaxy-normalized TDE-linked ECLE rate of RG=5 +5−3×10−6 galaxy−1 yr−1 at a median redshift of z = 0.2 - broadly consistent with previous works. Additionally, we also identify more than 200 AGNs displaying coronal emission lines, which serve as the primary astrophysical contaminants in searches for TDE-related events. We also include an outline of the custom python code developed for this search.",

keywords = "astro-ph.HE, transients: tidal disruption events, galaxies: active",

author = "Peter Clark and Joseph Callow and Or Graur and Filippenko, \{Alexei V.\} and Brink, \{Thomas G.\} and WeiKang Zheng and Jessica Aguilar and Steven Ahlen and Segev BenZvi and Davide Bianchi and David Brooks and Todd Claybaugh and Andrei Cuceu and Macorra, \{Axel de la\} and Arjun Dey and Peter Doel and Forero-Romero, \{Jaime E.\} and Enrique Gazta{\~n}aga and Gontcho, \{Satya Gontcho A\} and Gaston Gutierrez and Victoria Fawcett and Mustapha Ishak and Jorge Jimenez and Dick Joyce and Stephanie Juneau and Theodore Kisner and Anthony Kremin and Martin Landriau and Guillou, \{Laurent Le\} and Marc Manera and Aaron Meisner and Ramon Miquel and John Moustakas and Seshadri Nadathur and Percival, \{Will J.\} and Francisco Prada and Ignasi P{\'e}rez-R{\`a}fols and Graziano Rossi and Eusebio Sanchez and David Schlegel and Michael Schubnell and Silber, \{Joseph Harry\} and David Sprayberry and Gregory Tarl{\'e} and Weaver, \{Benjamin A.\} and Rongpu Zhou and Hu Zou",

note = "Submitted to MNRAS. Main text 41 pages, 32 figures with additional appendices",

year = "2026",

month = jul,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1093/mnras/stag887",

language = "English",

volume = "549",

journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society",

issn = "0035-8711",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "4",

}

Clark, P, Callow, J, Graur, O, Filippenko, AV, Brink, TG, Zheng, W, Aguilar, J, Ahlen, S, BenZvi, S, Bianchi, D, Brooks, D, Claybaugh, T, Cuceu, A, Macorra, ADL, Dey, A, Doel, P, Forero-Romero, JE, Gaztañaga, E, Gontcho, SGA, Gutierrez, G, Fawcett, V, Ishak, M, Jimenez, J, Joyce, D, Juneau, S, Kisner, T, Kremin, A, Landriau, M, Guillou, LL, Manera, M, Meisner, A, Miquel, R, Moustakas, J, Nadathur, S, Percival, WJ, Prada, F, Pérez-Ràfols, I, Rossi, G, Sanchez, E, Schlegel, D, Schubnell, M, Silber, JH, Sprayberry, D, Tarlé, G, Weaver, BA, Zhou, R & Zou, H 2026, 'Early results in the search for extreme coronal line emitters with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 549, no. 4, stag887. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag887

TY - JOUR

T1 - Early results in the search for extreme coronal line emitters with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

AU - Clark, Peter

AU - Callow, Joseph

AU - Graur, Or

AU - Filippenko, Alexei V.

AU - Brink, Thomas G.

AU - Zheng, WeiKang

AU - Aguilar, Jessica

AU - Ahlen, Steven

AU - BenZvi, Segev

AU - Bianchi, Davide

AU - Brooks, David

AU - Claybaugh, Todd

AU - Cuceu, Andrei

AU - Macorra, Axel de la

AU - Dey, Arjun

AU - Doel, Peter

AU - Forero-Romero, Jaime E.

AU - Gaztañaga, Enrique

AU - Gontcho, Satya Gontcho A

AU - Gutierrez, Gaston

AU - Fawcett, Victoria

AU - Ishak, Mustapha

AU - Jimenez, Jorge

AU - Joyce, Dick

AU - Juneau, Stephanie

AU - Kisner, Theodore

AU - Kremin, Anthony

AU - Landriau, Martin

AU - Guillou, Laurent Le

AU - Manera, Marc

AU - Meisner, Aaron

AU - Miquel, Ramon

AU - Moustakas, John

AU - Nadathur, Seshadri

AU - Percival, Will J.

AU - Prada, Francisco

AU - Pérez-Ràfols, Ignasi

AU - Rossi, Graziano

AU - Sanchez, Eusebio

AU - Schlegel, David

AU - Schubnell, Michael

AU - Silber, Joseph Harry

AU - Sprayberry, David

AU - Tarlé, Gregory

AU - Weaver, Benjamin A.

AU - Zhou, Rongpu

AU - Zou, Hu

N1 - Submitted to MNRAS. Main text 41 pages, 32 figures with additional appendices

PY - 2026/7/1

Y1 - 2026/7/1

N2 - Here we present the results of our search through the Early Data Release (EDR) of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) for extreme coronal line emitters (ECLEs) - a rare classification of galaxies displaying strong, high-ionization iron coronal emission lines within their spectra. With the requirement of a strong X-ray continuum to generate the coronal emission, ECLEs have been linked to both active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and tidal disruption events (TDEs). We focus our search on identifying TDE-linked ECLEs. We identify three such objects within the EDR sample, highlighting DESI's effectiveness for discovering new nuclear transients, and determine a galaxy-normalized TDE-linked ECLE rate of RG=5 +5−3×10−6 galaxy−1 yr−1 at a median redshift of z = 0.2 - broadly consistent with previous works. Additionally, we also identify more than 200 AGNs displaying coronal emission lines, which serve as the primary astrophysical contaminants in searches for TDE-related events. We also include an outline of the custom python code developed for this search.

AB - Here we present the results of our search through the Early Data Release (EDR) of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) for extreme coronal line emitters (ECLEs) - a rare classification of galaxies displaying strong, high-ionization iron coronal emission lines within their spectra. With the requirement of a strong X-ray continuum to generate the coronal emission, ECLEs have been linked to both active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and tidal disruption events (TDEs). We focus our search on identifying TDE-linked ECLEs. We identify three such objects within the EDR sample, highlighting DESI's effectiveness for discovering new nuclear transients, and determine a galaxy-normalized TDE-linked ECLE rate of RG=5 +5−3×10−6 galaxy−1 yr−1 at a median redshift of z = 0.2 - broadly consistent with previous works. Additionally, we also identify more than 200 AGNs displaying coronal emission lines, which serve as the primary astrophysical contaminants in searches for TDE-related events. We also include an outline of the custom python code developed for this search.

KW - astro-ph.HE

KW - transients: tidal disruption events

KW - galaxies: active

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stag887

DO - 10.1093/mnras/stag887

M3 - Article

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 549

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 4

M1 - stag887

ER -

Early results in the search for extreme coronal line emitters with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Student theses

The Rate of Extreme Coronal Line Emitters and their Relation to Tidal Disruption Events

Projects

Cosmology, Gravitation and Astrophysics at Portsmouth

Activities

Invited talk at the University of Hertfordshire

Invited talk at the University of Lancashire

Presentation at Cosmic Fireworks: A Cambridge Extragalactic Transients Workshop

Cite this